Prevalence of goiter and iodine status among 6-12 years school age children in district Kohat, Pakistan

Abstract

Pakistan is considered to be one of the most severely iodine deficient countries in the region. A decade earlier, 70% of the population was estimated to be at risk of iodine deficiency. However, the recent use of iodized salt has reduced the intensity of the problem. Earlier studies regarding iodine deficiency in Pakistan were restricted to the northern mountainous regions, but have now been extended to the sub-Himalaya areas and the plains of Punjab. The aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of goiter and iodine status among school children in district Kohat, Pakistan. The 30 cluster approach was adopted for the study. From each cluster, 40 samples were collected from school going children. The palpation method was used to measure goiter grade, whereas, for urinary iodine estimation, the wet digestion method was used. The prevalence of goiter in the district was found to be 35% (37.16% in boys and 33% in girls). The median urinary iodine concentration was found to be 56±31.19µg/L. Estimation of iodine content in salt illustrated that 56.8% people were consuming non-iodized salt and 43.5% were using iodized salt. The current study suggests a severe iodine deficiency in school children of district Kohat and regular iodine supplementation is required on an instant basis.

Factors affecting sustainable iodine deficiency elimination in Pakistan: A global perspective

“…36 Similarly, a few recent studies conducted in Charsadda, Kohat, and Karak districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province reported goiter prevalences of 15.8%, 14.5%, and 35%, respectively, but the reported iodine deficiency prevalences reported, based on UIC, were higher at 54.7%, 92.7%, and 87.3%, respectively ( Table 2 ). 37 , 38 , 39 Equal numbers of studies (12) were conducted in KP and Punjab. However, half of the studies in Punjab (6) were concentrated around Lahore, and only a few reports came from other areas, while studies in KP were predominately conducted around Peshawar 4 (33.3%) and Swat 3 (25%) regions.…”

“…44 Both of these surveys highlighted the northern regions of the country as more affected by iodine deficiency. However, the studies conducted after the 2011 NNS showed severe iodine deficiency in terms of higher goiter prevalence (14%–35%) and mild-to-moderate iodine deficiency based on median UIC levels (75.18 μg/L, 89.9 μg/L, 62.3 μg/L and 56 μg/L in Peshawar, 45 Charsadda, 39 Karak, 37 and Kohat 38 districts, respectively) ( Table 2 ).…”

“…52 Overall, 64% of housewives at the national level were aware of iodized salt in 2011, and household iodine use was 69%, compared to 17% in 2001. 20 , 42 However, some recent studies of school children (6–12 years) in the districts of Charsadda, Kohat, and Karak show a different picture, with 70%, 39 56.5%, 37 and 72.5% 38 of the population using non-iodized salt. Even the most recent community-based intervention study revealed that only 2.6% of households were using iodized salt before the intervention.…”

Can we eliminate nutritional anaemia in the near future?

“…And really, this is feasible in terms of support, affordability, acceptability by the people, inventory control etc. Lack of awareness of people about nutrient deficiency, its complications, low consumption of iron containing food, lack of effective education programs by planners and policy makers found in some similar study 20 demand immediate therapeutic and prophylactic program for correction of the nutritional anemia.…”

The Prevalence of Subclinical Hypothyroidism During Early Pregnancy in Pakistan: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…Pakistan is known to be one of the severely iodine-deficient countries in the region [ 13 ]. In the past few years, studies carried out by the World Health Organization (WHO) provided an alarming picture of the country's profile for iodine deficiency disorders [ 14 ].…”